The First Philippine Polymer (FPP) Series is the name used to refer to the Philippine peso currency series conceptualized in 2024. The series uses the

Myriad In the context of numeric naming systems for powers of ten, myriad is the quantity ten thousand ( 10,000). Idiomatically, in English, ''myriad'' is an adjective used to mean that a group of things has indefinitely large quantity. ''Myriad ...

and

Twentieth Century The 20th century began on 1 January 1901 (MCMI), and ended on 31 December 2000 (MM). It was the 10th and last century in the 2nd millennium and was marked by new models of scientific understanding, unprecedented scopes of warfare, new modes of ...

typefaces, the same as the

New Generation Currency Series The New Generation Currency (NGC) Series is the name used to refer to the Philippine peso currency series conceptualized from 2007 to 2010, and Banknotes of the Philippine peso, banknotes issued since 2010 and Coins of the Philippine peso, coins ...

launched in 2010.

History

2009: First proposal and abandonment

In 2009, the Philippines'

central bank A central bank, reserve bank, national bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the monetary policy of a country or monetary union. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank possesses a monopoly on increasing the mo ...

– the

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (; commonly abbreviated as BSP in both Filipino and English) is the central bank of the Philippines. It was established on January 3, 1949, and then re-established on July 3, 1993 pursuant to the provision of Re ...

(BSP) has proposed the use of

polymer banknote Polymer banknotes are banknotes made from a synthetic polymer such as biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP). Such notes incorporate many security features not available in paper banknotes, including the use of metameric inks. Polymer banknote ...

s during the time of then-Governor

Amando Tetangco Jr. Amando Maglalang Tetangco Jr. (born November 14, 1952) is a Filipino banker, who served as the third Governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). He was the first BSP governor to serve two terms, having been first appointed to the office ...

, as he announced that will be shifted from paper into polymer substrate, and also the time when the

New Design Series The New Design Series (NDS) (also known as the BSP Series after the establishment of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) was the name used to refer to the banknotes of the Philippine peso conceptualized from 1983 to 1985, issued from 1985 to 201 ...

was planned to be redesigned for a new banknote series, and later it was not materialized the shift plan, when the New Generation Currency Series was launched on December 16, 2010, which still using paper substrate made from cotton-abaca fiber and to support local abaca farmers.

2021–2022: Revival and trial circulation

In 2021, BSP has revived the proposal of the use of polymer banknotes during the time of

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

under the leadership of then-Governor

Benjamin Diokno Benjamin Estoista Diokno (born March 31, 1948) is a Filipino economist who currently serves as one of the six members of the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, which conducts the country's monetary policy and supervises its fin ...

, which they said that the bacteria and viruses will live shorter on the polymer banknote than the paper one; and a year later, the BSP presented the 1000-piso polymer banknote to President

Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the first Philippine president from Mindanao, and is the oldest person to assum ...

in Malacañang on April 6, 2022, and it was issued on April 18, 2022, in limited quantities and in trial circulation.

2024: Launch

After the trial circulation of 1000-piso polymer banknote in 2022, on December 19, 2024, the BSP launched the first-ever full polymer banknote series that they called the First Philippine Polymer Banknote Series, consisting of 50-piso, 100-piso, and 500-piso denominations; and it was presented in Malacañang led by President

Bongbong Marcos Ferdinand "Bongbong" Romualdez Marcos Jr. (, , ; born September 13, 1957), commonly referred to by the initials BBM or PBBM, is a Filipino politician who has served as the 17th president of the Philippines since 2022. He is the second child ...

and BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr., and it was released on December 23, 2024, in limited quantities and in Greater Manila area.

Design

The FPP series shares many design cues with the

banknotes, particularly the color scheme, elements on the reverse side, and font used throughout the bills. The difference lies in the material used for the bill, and the main feature designs on the obverse side. In this series, the BSP has decided not to include 20-piso and 200-piso banknote denominations in the polymer version.

50 piso

Colored red, the main design shown on the front of the note depicts a portrait of

Visayan leopard cat The Visayan leopard cat, known locally as maral, is a Sunda leopard cat (''Prionailurus javanensis sumatranus'') population in the Philippine Islands of Negros, Cebu and Panay. It has been listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List in 2008 under ...

(''Prionailurus bengalensis rabori'') or locally called as ''maral'', and also features the clear window of Vidal's Lanutan flower (''Hibiscus campylosiphon''). The main designs on the back show

Taal Lake Taal Lake (, ), formerly known as Bombón Lake, is a fresh water Volcanic crater lake, caldera lake in the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Batangas, on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. The lake fills Taal Volcano, a large volc ...

, the

Giant Trevally The giant trevally (''Caranx ignobilis''), also known as the lowly trevally, barrier trevally, ronin jack, giant kingfish, or ''ulua'', is a species of large ocean, marine fish classified in the jack Family (biology), family, Carangidae. The gian ...

(locally known as ''Maliputo'') (''Caranx ignobilis'') and an embroidery design from

Batangas Batangas, officially the Province of Batangas ( ), is a first class province of the Philippines located in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Calabarzon region. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 2,908,494 people, making ...

province.

100 piso

Colored violet, the main design for this denomination on the front depicts a portrait of

Palawan peacock-pheasant The Palawan peacock-pheasant (''Polyplectron napoleonis'') is a medium-sized (up to 50cm long) bird in the family Phasianidae endemic to the island of Palawan in the Philippines. The spectacular male has a black body with blue marks on the wings ...

(''Polyplectron napoleonis'') or locally known as ''tandikan'', and also features the clear window of ''Ceratocentron fesselii'' orchid flower. The main designs shown on the back feature the

Mayon Volcano Mayon (; , ), also known as Mount Mayon and Mayon Volcano is an active stratovolcano in the province of Albay in Bicol, Philippines. A popular tourist spot, it is renowned for its "perfect cone" because of its symmetric conical shape, and i ...

, the

Whale Shark The whale shark (''Rhincodon typus'') is a slow-moving, filter feeder, filter-feeding carpet shark and the largest known Extant taxon, extant fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of . The whale shark holds many records for ...

(locally known as ''Butanding'', scientific name ''Rhincodon typus''), and a weave design from Bicol.

500 piso

Colored yellow, the main design on the front of the note features the portrait of

Visayan spotted deer The Visayan spotted deer (''Rusa alfredi''), also known as the Visayan deer, the Philippine spotted deer or Prince Alfred's deer, is a small, endangered, primarily nocturnal species of deer found in the rainforests of the Visayan Islands of Pa ...

(''Rusa alfredi'') or locally known as ''lagsaw'', and also features the clear window of ''Acanthephippium mantinianum'' orchid flower. The main designs on the back of the note feature the Subterranean River National Park, the

Blue-naped parrot The blue-naped parrot (''Tanygnathus lucionensis''), also known as the blue-crowned green parrot, Luzon parrot, the Philippine green parrot, and locally known as pikoy, is a parrot native throughout the Philippines and the Talaud Islands of Indon ...

(''Tanygnathus lucionensis''), and a cloth design from the Southern Philippines.

1,000 piso

Colored light-blue, the main designs on the front of the note feature two of the national symbols of the Philippines, the

Philippine eagle The Philippine eagle (''Pithecophaga jefferyi''), also known as the monkey-eating eagle or great Philippine eagle, is a critically endangered species of eagle of the family Accipitridae which is Endemism, endemic to forests in the Geography of ...

(''Pithecophaga jefferyi''), the national bird and the clear window of Sampaguita (''

Jasminum sambac ''Jasminum sambac'' (Arabian jasmine or Sambac jasmine) is a species of jasmine native to Bhutan and India. It is cultivated in many places, especially West Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is naturalised in many scattered locales: Mauri ...

''), the national flower. The main designs on the back of the note feature the

Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park The Tubbataha Natural Park, also known as the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park (), is a protected area of the Philippines located in the middle of the Sulu Sea. The marine and bird sanctuary consists of two huge atolls (named the North Atoll and Sou ...

, the South Sea Pearl (''

Pinctada maxima ''Pinctada maxima'' is a species of pearl oyster, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Pteriidae, the pearl oysters. There are two different color varieties: the Gold-lipped oyster and the Silver-lipped oyster. These bivalves are the largest ...

''), and a cloth design from the Mindanao design for

T'nalak ''Tnalak'' (also spelled ''tenalak''), is a weaving tradition using resist-dyed threads of the Tboli people of South Cotabato, Philippines. T'nalak cloth is woven exclusively by women who have received the designs for the weave in their dreams ...

(Ikat-dyed abaca).

References

{{Portal bar, Money, Numismatics, Philippines Currencies of the Philippines Philippines currency history